On the evening of December 6, 2018 at approximately 10:15 pm Eastern Standard Time, the Time Warner Center in New York City was evacuated due to a bomb threat by a phone call from an unknown source. The building houses CNN offices and studios for most of its American shows, and the live broadcast of CNN Tonight was interrupted when a fire alarm went off and employees had to exit the building. Host Don Lemon tweeted the happenings as the broadcast suddenly ended and a previously taped Anderson Cooper 360 program aired in its place. Shortly after, Lemon, along with media analyst Brian Stelter and crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz continued a live broadcast from the outside of the building, providing updates to the bomb threats. Police did not find any suspicious devices and the suspect was not identified. [1] [2]
This was the third time CNN was threatened via telephone in 2018; other incidents occurred in January and November. Both suspects in those cases have been apprehended and charged with several crimes. [3] [4] It was also the second time in 2018 that the Time Warner Center was evacuated during a live broadcast; the first being in October when the building received a package containing a suspected pipe bomb that did not explode, one of several sent across the country that week, including another destined for the Time Warner Center and one meant for the CNN Center in Atlanta, both of which were intercepted by authorities before reaching their intended destinations. [5] A suspect in that case was arrested soon after and later pleaded guilty to dozens of federal crimes. [6]
A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agencies whose duties include the interdiction of letter bombs and the investigation of letter bombings. The letter bomb may have been in use for nearly as long as the common postal service has been in existence, as far back as 1764.
A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists.
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another person later died of a heart attack. It was the first of four bombings committed by Eric Rudolph in a terrorism campaign against what he called "the ideals of global socialism" and against "abortion on demand". Security guard Richard Jewell discovered the bomb before detonation, notified Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers, and began clearing spectators out of the park along with other security guards.
The Center in Atlanta, Georgia, formerly and still commonly called CNN Center, is the former international headquarters of U.S. cable network CNN. The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels were located in the building. The facility's commercial office space was occupied by various units of the former Turner Broadcasting System, now part of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Center is located in downtown Atlanta adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is also "the federal agency charged with protecting and delivering integrated law enforcement and security services to facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA)"—over 9,000 buildings—and their occupants.
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services. It also contains studios for local and regional French-language productions and is the headquarters of the North American Broadcasters Association. Two floors of the facility house the ad agency Bensimon Byrne and its subsidiaries Narrative and OneMethod.
Richard Allensworth Jewell was an American security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs on the park grounds and helped evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. For months afterward he was suspected of planting the bomb, resulting in adverse publicity that "came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media".
Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, including kidnapping, stalking, assault, attempted murder, and murder; and crimes affecting both people and property, as well as arson and terrorism, such as bombings.
John Patrick Tomkins is an American who was convicted of sending several threatening letters and bomb-like devices to financial firms in the Midwestern United States under the pseudonym The Bishop. A machinist and lifelong resident of Dubuque, Iowa, he is now serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison.
The Exeter bombing was a failed bombing attempt that took place on 22 May 2008, at the Giraffe cafe and restaurant in Princesshay, Exeter, England. The bomber, Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, who was the only person injured, pleaded guilty on 15 October 2008 to launching the attempted suicide attack.
In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.
Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, is an American convert to Islam and a part-time cook who attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on 24 September 2009. He pleaded guilty in federal court on 9 May 2011 and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was involved in multiple security incidents, including several assassination threats and plots, starting from when he became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after he received a death threat in 2007, while serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois and running for president. This marked the earliest time a candidate received such protection before being nominated. Security was increased early for Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential nominee.
Roman Valerevich Seleznev, also known by his hacker name Track2, is a Russian computer hacker. Seleznev was indicted in the United States in 2011, and was convicted of hacking into servers to steal credit-card data. His activities are estimated to have caused more than $169 million in damages to businesses and financial institutions. Seleznev was arrested on July 5, 2014, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison for wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, and identity theft.
In early 2017, a wave of more than 2,000 bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark. Two arrests and two convictions were made in connection with the threats: Michael Ron David Kadar, a dual American-Israeli citizen, who received a ten year sentence, along with Juan M. Thompson, a former journalist, who received a five year sentence.
The Austin serial bombings occurred between March 2 and March 21, 2018, mostly in Austin, Texas. In total, five package bombs exploded, killed two people and injuring another five. The perpetrator, 23-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt of Pflugerville, Texas, was pulled over by police on March 21. Conditt detonated an explosive inside his vehicle, killing himself and injuring a police officer.
From October 22 to November 1, 2018, 16 packages found to contain pipe bombs were mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to several Democratic Party politicians and other prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump. Targets included former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
On December 25, 2020, Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, killing himself, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area. It took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network facility, resulting in days-long communication service outages.